Golf clubs have changed dramatically over the years. Originally, the longer hitting clubs were made from wood and hence are referred to as "woods." New materials have become available which have been applied to the art of golf club manufacturing. For example club heads are now made from metal, and are called metal woods. Additionally graphite shafts are now used where once steel shafts were used.
With the new materials have also come new design shapes and sizes. Most dramatically, has been the trend over the recent few years to use a larger sized club head which allegedly results in a larger sweet spot and hopefully longer and more consistent drives. However, such larger club heads tend to be expensive and can in the hands of a less skilled player produce inconsistent results.
Another trend in the past has been to design better weighted clubs. For example, the concept of perimeter weighting a club face has been used in the design of irons to improve club performance. Weighted golf club heads have also been proposed for the woods in which weights are carried in the body of the club head to improve the hitting characteristics of the club head when making contact with the ball. For example, my own prior patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,219 is directed to a moulded golf club head having a C-shaped configuration when viewed from above. Weights are carried in two rearward extensions of the moulded body which includes a front striking face. This prior club provides good hitting characteristics, because of a high moment of inertia along the arc of the swing. This prior design may also have problems with club head integrity. The moulded material tends to crack, releasing the club head from the shaft, and the weighted extensions from the body. Consequently, although delivering good performance in ball striking, improvements were required both in the design and shape of the club head and in the manner that the club head is secured to a golf club shaft to complete a golf club.
Other patents directed to weighted golf club heads include:
U.S. Pat. No. 645,942 to Cran issued March 1900; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 690,940 to Febiger issued January 1902; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 1,318,325 to Klin issued October 1919; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 1,453,503 to Holmes issued May 1923; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,064,980 to Steiner issued November 1962; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,094 to Glover issued March 1972; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,960 to Thompson issued November 1974; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,210 to Rozmus issued June 1976; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,122 to Belmont issued September 1976; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,230 to Churchward issued July 1982; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,472 to Hamilton issued August 1982; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,638 to Tucker issued December 1983; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,784 to Brill issued April 1986; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,846 to Perkins issued August 1986; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,149 to Maxel issued October 1986; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,459 to Antonious issued April 1987; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,879 to Collins issued August 1989; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,174 to Kobayashi issued October 1989; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,387 to Finney issued February 1990; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,582 to Bernstein issued June 1990; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,778 to Douglass issued January 1992; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,047 to Phelan issued May 1992; and PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,869 to Dingle issued October 1993.